10.25.2014

oatmeal :: every day

Recently I had my cholesterol checked and *WHAT* I have high cholesterol. I was handed a prescription for pharmaceutical, even before she asked me if I wanted it. I said "NO WAY!", I know I can get my cholesterol down through my food! So among other things, like exercise, cutting out some foods (fried!) and some yoga, I am revamping my diet. So I am going to do some posts on some new things I am trying and I love them.. maybe you will too...

I don't know about you but my kids love oatmeal, we have it just about every morning (I think I have made some posts about it in the past), but I have elevated my oatmeal recently. My husband says we should serve it as a desert (instead of other crap) because it tastes so good (coming from him that's saying a lot!). I change my recipe just about every time, depending on what I have in the fridge and what is in season at the moment. The idea of this recipe came from an Italian friend of mine, who had to eat tapioca cooked with lemon rind & vanilla bean - it was supposed to help him gain weight and keep his otherwise hyper personality a bit more calm (and I do remember it working for him!). That was one of our favorite deserts when we were heavily macrobiotic and living in Italy.

I typically don't measure anything so these are estimates, when you make it yourself you will adjust for your own taste anyhow, you can't go wrong really with these spices except with the cardamom and the sea salt - you need VERY LITTLE for big taste.

(I have cooked this batch with apples too)

recipe: SPICED OATMEAL

1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup Israeli Cous Cous
(you can use your favorite grain too to mix with the oatmeal, some ideas: millet or quinoa are delicious!)
1 1/2 cup coconut water
1 cup rice milk (maybe a bit less) or almond milk or hemp or oat or whatever you like (except cows milk)
1 tsp cinnamon (or a bit more)
pinch of cardamom
4-6 lemon rinds (you can cut them small for kids so they don't see them or leave them large and take them out before serving - I like to eat them though)
1/3 vanilla bean (slice it lengthwise to open up the seeds)
pinch of salt
when I make it for kids I put 1/4 to 1/2 a small apple diced

cook all together slowly on tiniest flame - you can even leave it sit towards the end and it will keep the grains cooking - about 20 minutes. If it's too thick at the end just add some water and leave it for a minute to soak into the grain.

There are millions of variations on this which are delicious, as a desert you can substitute a can of light coconut milk and then either water or coconut water. Dates make it a lot sweeter too... delicious!

can't wait to hear your recipes - comment or send me an email and I will post your ideas!

1 comment:

Carina, i love this Blonde coconut nectar as well. Turned my last two cleansers on to it. Great in smoothies if too bland.

It's always good to have coconut (oil and flesh) in diet if have high LDL cholesterol, for coconut fat raises the GOOD cholesterol (HDL) which is the "moving" cholesterol (not the stuck LDL one) and hence moves the fat soluble vitamins and nutrients that cholesterol carries with it to the brain and neurotransmitters, and to ligaments, joints, and the heart.If more LDL cholesterol then the cholesterol gets too thick and sits around waiting in the arteries for more HDL and sulfur compounds.

Organic, local eggs, avocado and other good fats like walnuts help increase the HDL cholesterol as well, so don't be afraid to have a high protein egg in the morning which will get your metabolism going and help sustain your families energy through the morning on into lunchtime. Oatmeal with nut milks and nuts helps too, but plain or with fruit not so energy sustaining. The fiber is great though of course, to move bowels...

Society has dubbed cholesterol evil, but its essential to the human body; we just need to keep the HDL levels higher than LDL so the cholesterol keeps moving, and with a diet rich in green leafy plants rich in sulfur that is usually done no problem and is what nature intended.

Foods that are sulfur rich are especially the brassica family vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, kale, radishes...).

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welcome to nonchalant mom!

I like to keep things personal in this blog so all posts are done by me and you will find good tips and information to raise your kids in a more natural and healthy way. We like to post on travel, food and fashion! And take a look at our Macrobiotic tips or click on 'Baby' for lots of information on how we raised our kids with tips on healing with food and more!